Happiness, Growth, and the Life Cycle

Richard A. Easterlin
Edited by Holger Hinte and Klaus F. Zimmerman

Description

The second in a series of books published with the IZA, this volume presents Richard Easterlin's outstanding research on the analysis of subjective well-being, and on the relationship between demographic developments and economic outcomes. In both fields, his work has laid the foundations for enlarging the scope of traditional economic analysis and has increased our understanding of behavior in several important domains, such as fertility choices, labor market behavior, and the determinants of individual well-being.

In various seminal contributions, Easterlin has demonstrated the importance of material aspirations and relative economic status for human behavior. This book is a collection of 11 of his key papers, revised and edited to make a cohesive
book. New material includes an Introduction from the editors, two section Introductions from Easterlin, and an Epilogue from Easterlin.

Happiness, Growth, and the Life Cycle

Richard A. Easterlin
Edited by Holger Hinte and Klaus F. Zimmerman

Table of Contents

I. Introduction by the Editors: Shaping the Economics of Happiness- The Fundamental Contributions of Richard Easterlin II. Growth and Happiness Introduction1. Does Economic Growth Improve the Human Lot? Some Empirical Evidence2. Will Raising the Incomes of All Increase the Happiness of All?3. Happiness and Economic Growth: Does the Cross-Section Predict Time Trends? Evidence from Developing Countries4. Lost in Transition: Life Satisfaction on the Road to Capitalism5. Happiness and Growth the World Over: Time Series Evidence on the Happiness-Income ParadoxIII. Life Cycle Happiness Introduction6. Income and Happiness: Towards a Unified Theory7. Life Cycle Happiness and its Sources: Intersections of Psychology,
Economics, and Demography8. The Cross-Over in the Life Cycle Happiness of American Women and Men9. Aspirations, Attainments, and Satisfaction: Life Cycle Differences between American Women and Men10. Happiness and Domain Satisfaction: New Directions for the Economics of Happiness11. Explaining HappinessIV. Epilogue

Happiness, Growth, and the Life Cycle

Richard A. Easterlin
Edited by Holger Hinte and Klaus F. Zimmerman

Author Information

Richard A. Easterlin is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a former Guggenheim Fellow, and Past President of the Population Association of America, and the Economic History Association. He was awarded the 2009 IZA Prize in Labour Economics.